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AGF Confirms Recovery Of $110m Worth Assets

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By Gloria Ikibah
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Prince Lateef Fagbemi has confirmed the recovery and return of over $110 million assets from various countries.
The AGF disclosed this when he appeared before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Justice for the 2024 budget defence and 2025 budget proposal on Tuesday in Abuja.
However he was unable to give breakdown of the fund returned including the $52.88 million recovered assets linked to former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, by the United States government.
Fagbemi who explained that the Ministry has developed a template for most of the agreements and sharing with some of the State Governments in order to help them to review contracts, said that is where most of the damages and risks are.
While speaking on the judgement obtained against government, he recalled that the “popular case of P&ID, there were so many issues involved including engaging lawyers that are not up to the task. Some of these commercial transactions are not given to friends or lawyers merely because they are friends. They must be people who have capacities in terms of training, in terms of experience and we have learnt our lessons in this regard.
“So, we are trying our best to ensure that those we engage are those with certified  advisory given to us during the P&ID case. That whatever you want to give cases out, you don’t do it out of patronage, we look at the competence of the counsel involved.
“For instance, the mere fact that you’re a constitutional lawyer in Nigeria does not make you a good commercial lawyer or an arbitrator offshore or even here, so this one we have taken care of.”
The AGF further stated that State Governments are at liberty to engage in foreign transactions, but noted that the sub-national governments are not recognized in case there are arbitration, stressing that it is the national government that takes such responsibilities.
According to him, back home, the Federal Government can subnational governments “to pay or indemnify the national government or if they don’t indemnify, there is an implied condition that you ask them to pay or you probably deduct it from what is due to them when you’re doing the usual FAAC allocation.”
In the bid to avert future occurrences, he assured that measures are being put in place to ensure that agreements are properly signed, adding that there are instances where the Ministry has declined from approving many agreements between foreign agencies
In his address, the Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Olumide Osoba,  commended the Ministry for the landmark achievements recorded so far.
He said: “In the past year, Nigeria has witnessed significant judicial decisions that reinforce the principles of justice and governance: Supreme Court ruling on Local Government Autonomy: On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial and administrative autonomy of local governments.
“This ruling declared it unconstitutional for state governors to withhold funds allocated to local governments or to dissolve local government councils arbitrarily, It recognized Local Governments as the third tier of Nigeria’s governance structure, thereby strengthening grassroots democracy and enhancing service delivery at the local level.
“P&ID Case Success: Nigeria achieved a significant legal victory in the case against Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID). The court quashed the previous judgment that had imposed a substantial financial liability on the country, thereby safeguarding our national assets and preserving economic stability.
“These judicial outcomes exemplify the robustness of our legal system and underscore the importance of unWavering commitment to justice and the rule of law”.
Speaking during the review of the 2024 budget defence, Rep. Osoba queried the Ministry for failure to provide details on the utilisation of N4.7 billion reportedly spent on legal services.
He explained that the Ministry is working to ensure that any entity working with Nigeria comply with the laws of Nigeria.
“There’s one critical area where we also as much as possible stand our foot, that is in the area of arbitration especially the laws that govern administration and the seat that govern arbitration.
“You know it is sad to experience a situation or situations in which people come here to take our money and still want the seat of arbitration outside Nigeria and the relevant laws that govern their transactions to be laws in England. So, they have to choose to do business with us, take our money and also comply with our own laws here.
“And so, we have arbitration and prosecution Act which was passed into law in 2023. This has significantly impacted on our fortunes in this regard”, he stated.
The lawmakers also accused the Ministry of usurping the powers of the Parliament for re-appropriating the approved funds for 2024 fiscal year for other purposes not approved by the Parliament without due process

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Rivers traditional ruler narrowly escapes assassin’s bullets as hoodlums shoot at his palace

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The Amadabo of Finima in Bonny local government area of Rivers State, HRH Aseme Alabo Dagogo Lambert Brown in the early hours of today, August 22, 2026 narroy escaped an assassination attempt on his life.

However, the Amadabo was not at home when the blood thirsty hoodlums fired sporadically at the building housing the living rooms of the monarch and other households.

Unfortunately, some members were seriously injured and rushed to hospitals for emergency medical attention.

Condemning the heinous crime, Aseme Alabo Dagogo Lambert Brown stated that they had received intelligence reports of importation of hoodlums into the community.

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He blamed the Bonny Traditional Authorities of sponsoring a faction of Tobin House to cause mayhem.

He called on law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate the matter and bring perpetrators.

Transcript of the attached voice.

“It is very painful and regretful of what I see today in Finima.

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We have envisaged this. We live in the community, we have the intelligence, information is coming here and there, and we communicated same intelligence to the security agencies that we are having mercenaries imported into Finima for the sake of a strange event that wants to happen.

Must all of us die because one faction of the Tobin house in Finima, being sponsored by the Bonny Traditional Authorities, wants to perform things that are strange in Finima?

God will never allow that to happen. God will never allow—we saw it. All this happening is to intimidate me and my people for saying this is not how we are living as a people. We live as one people. All the cultural institutions are in full participation by the chieftaincy houses in Finima. There’s no separation.

Why? Because we want to avoid any rivalry group or things that will cause disunity in Finima. That is how our upgrowing—that’s how we’ve grown up in Finima.

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And these are one of the outcomes, very regretful. I want to appeal to the law enforcement agencies today that people behind this heinous act are culprits—people, culprits to this heinous act—are arrested and prosecuted.

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Photos: 15 years after, Apo-Karshi Road for inauguration in December – Wike

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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says the long-delayed Apo-Karshi road will finally be completed and handed over by November, putting an end to a 15-year wait for residents in the axis.

Wike gave the assurance in Abuja on Saturday, after inspecting the progress of the project as well as the 14-kilometre Bwari Kubwa Road.

He explained that the 13.5-kilometer road, originally awarded in 2011 under previous administrations, has been a major point of frustration for motorists experiencing daily traffic congestion between satellite communities and the Abuja city center.

He explained that the current administration was forced to revoke the original contract due to persistent delays and re-award it to construction firm SCC Nigeria Ltd.

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“The Apo-Karshi road has been a topical issue. It was awarded in 2010, one of those projects President Bola Tinubu inherited.

“Because of its importance and the complaints by residents, we had to terminate the contract and award it to SCC, which we know has the capacity to complete the job.

“Residents who have been crying for years can now see that this government has come to their aid,” he said.

The minister praised the contractor for maintaining progress on-site regardless of funding cycles, reaffirming the government’s commitment to honoring its financial obligations.

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The minister also inspected the ongoing construction of the 14-kilometre Bwari-Kubwa road, stressing that the contractor had promised to deliver the critical road in December.

He emphasised that the tangible delivery of infrastructure projects serves as the strongest argument for the administration’s governance model, downplaying traditional political campaigning in favor of visible results.

“When people ask me about campaigns, I say, ‘What is campaign? See the campaign. Campaign is about what you have done for the people and what the government has to show.

“It is not about promises; it is about taking action that positively impacts lives,” he said.

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With multiple road networks approaching completion across the FCT, the minister expressed confidence that the administration would surpass its initial 10 projects target for inauguration between December and January 2027.

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BREAKING: 38 year former world champion boxer, Zolani Tete shot dead in South Africa

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Ex-world champion boxer Zolani Tete has been shot dead outside his home in South Africa at the age of 38.

This ugly development happened in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, as Zolani Tete arrived at his residence and waited for the gate to open.

According to the police, two armed men wearing balaclavas stepped out of a vehicle and opened fire on the boxer.

A 27-year-old woman who was travelling with Tete was also shot several times and taken to hospital for treatment.

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South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, confirmed Tete’s death on Friday.

McKenzie expressed caution over speculation about the motive behind the attack, saying “I will not speculate about who did this or why.”

Police have launched an investigation, but no motive has been established and no details about possible suspects have been released.

Zolani Tete , who was nicknamed “Last Born”, became widely known in boxing for his remarkable 11-second knockout of fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in Belfast in November 2017.

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The knockout remains one of the fastest stoppages in a world title fight.

Tete achieved it while defending his WBO bantamweight title, which he had won earlier that year and held until 2019.

The southpaw boxer had previously captured the IBF junior-bantamweight title in 2014 after defeating Japan’s Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe.

Earlier in his career, Tete had also held the minor WBF flyweight title.

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Zolani Tete’s death came only weeks after he completed a four-year ban from boxing following a positive test for the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol after his 2022 bout against Jason Cunningham.

His suspension ended on July 29, and he had been preparing to make a return to professional boxing before his death.

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